A Note on Narcons
"A Note on Narcons" is the twenty-fourth chapter of One Rainy Day in May. This segment is narrated completely by the Narcons. Summary The Narcons have paused the narrative with the intention of speaking directly to the reader. It explains that the term "Narcon" is short for "Narrative Construct." The official term is TF-Narcon9. It admits that it is unsure of what "TF" is short for or what the "9" is supposed to represent. The Narcons are "nothing but numbers. Zeroes and ones." It attempts to explain that it is "fractally locatable," and advises the reader to read about series limitations if they are confused. The Narcons are programmed, though by who or what remains unclear. One of the Narcons continues by explaining that Narcons embody something called AIM (Affect-Intersectional Motivations) derived from ITs (IDENTITY Sets), which is sometimes referred to as ISTs (IDENTITY Set Targets) whether demonstrating zero to partial awareness. This Narcon says that no IS or IST is capable of total AIM awareness. All Narcons are, in terms of performance, "maximized through paratactic diversity and root and logic-branch redundancy according to VEM rules of access and compression." Also, source superset is currently categorized as Signiconic. The Narcons begin to elaborate on what they are, how they function, and what their purpose is. Some of the text is redacted, though it is explained that "on REDACTED, according to stipulations set forth by REDACTED, compiled source and exported assets finalized the present executable build recognized as TF-Narcon9 and comprised of the following subsets:" following this text, there is a list of nine subsets. Each set starts with "TF-Narcon9" but the assigned subsets are corresponded this way: "Isn, Shn, Oz, L, Anw, W, Ast, JJ, and X." According to something called MetaPlus, that is. Any Narcon subset supports an infinite variety of embodiments. For example, "TF-Narcon9X (Spoken)" would only provide words spoken aloud by Xanther. "TF-Narcon9X (Route)" would only map wherever Xanther moved. Both of these include "a wide range of possible inclusions and exclusions - from 100% to \leq .00001% according to various predetermined limits." It goes on to give more examples, even including an input/output example. There is also a TOTAL function, but the Narcon insists that it is far too vast to represent. The readers are given calculable data about each of the narrators. Afterwards, the Narcon notices that there are nine narrators and it begins to speculate that this is where the "9" comes from. The Narcons are limited in many ways, as they continue to use Xanther to provide examples. For example, TF-Narcon9X "may never exceed Xanther's imagination whether actual, probable, or possible." Nor may it provide any output "inconsistent with her physiognomy, psychology, and history, in regard to language modelling." Building off of that example, it goes on to state that TF-Narcon9Isn only speaks Spanish but it is translated into English, per specifications. On the other hand, "TF-Narcon9Shn insists on his English even if frequent thoughts run concurrently in Armenian, which when they appear are not translated into English, per specifications." Finally, the Narcons explain one last thing: they must operate based on a set of parameters. These parameters are listed. Parameter 1: MetaNarcons do not exist. Everybody has a Narcon, but Narcons do not have Narcons. Parameter 2: Narcons cannot interact with other Narcons. Though, while explaining this, the Narcon points out a rumor suggesting that Narcons sometimes are able to hear each other. It admits that it can't, however. Parameter 3: Narcons cannot interact with non-Narcons. And vice versa. No matter what. According to the Narcon, this is arguably the most important parameter. It can't speak to the narrators and the narrators can't speak to the Narcons. Strangely, though, this currently-speaking Narcon sometimes feels as if Xanther somehow can see and hear them. It is unsure of whether or not that's true. Parameter 4: All Narcons are bracketed. The Narcon doesn't elaborate on this one. Parameter 5: Form is not a Narcon limit. This means that Narcons can "take on multiple shapes whether textual, musical, figurative, abstract, even performative." They can even appear as animals such as killer whales, boars, hyenas, markhors, owls, or any other animal the Narcon chooses. After elaborating for a little while longer, the Narcons decide to unpause the narrative. As it was paused, no time has passed since the end of the previous chapter and the beginning of the next one. Page by page annotations Category:Chapters